Capital punishment, known as the death penalty, has been a widely debated topic in America over its constitutionality since it was reinstated in 1976. There are two distinct sides to the debate over whether the death penalty punishment is an unjust punishment. The debate extends to whether mentally ill people and juveniles should be tried as adults and receive the death penalty or whether their mental capacity precludes the government from handing out the penalty. Not only that, but the methods used to administer the punishment are also targeted and criticised. The death penalty has been applied in America since colonial times, when settlers arrived from Europe. At that time, they used hanging as the most common execution method. This persisted until 1900, when the government switched to methods such as the gas chamber or the electric chair. This continued until Furman v. Georgia in 1972, in which the Court declared the death penalty to be suspended until an adequate system was created. This hiatus continued until the 1976 Supreme Court case Gregg v. Georgia allowing states to begin administering punishment (Upfront Magazine). By this time, lethal injection had been invented by Dr. Jay Chapman (CNN). It would become the most popular death penalty administered, accounting for 1,204 of 158 executions completed via electrocution (deathpenaltyinfo.org). Several Supreme Court cases have narrowed the constitutionality of administering the death penalty to mentally healthy adults. Some others determined, using the Eighth Amendment, how serious the crime had to be for such an extreme punishment to be imposed. The Eighth Amendment states that the court has the power to determine whether a punishment fits the crime or whether the punishment... in the middle of a sheet of paper... is forcibly torn. Three cases have occurred since 1976. The firing squad is still used by two states, Utah and Idaho. The prisoner is tied to a chair and hooded. Then, five men take aim and shoot at the target on the prisoner's chest. Three cases have occurred since 1976. Electrocution had been the most common form of execution until lethal injection. The prisoner is tied to a chair and electrodes are attached to his head and legs. Smoke often rises from the head and the smell of burning flesh is always present. No one knows how long the prisoner lived, thus sparking debate whether this was torture, rather than quickly ending a prisoner's life. This is still legal in 11 states. The gas chamber has been used since 1933 and was discontinued in 1996 when the California Court of Appeals ruled that this method was unconstitutional.